At the iconic Istora Senayan in Jakarta, the opening round of the Indonesia Masters was a mixed bag of sorts for the Indian contingent. While veterans PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth along with Lakshya Sen and Anmol Kharb reached the pre-quarterfinals, the day also saw the exit of several young prospects and doubles pairs.
Former world No. 1 Srikanth showcased his vintage version to beat Japan’s world No. 22, Koki Watanabe in a nail-biting marathon, winning 21-15, 21-23, 24-22 in 72 minutes. Srikanth held his nerves during the high-octane closing rallies of the decider to seal the match.
Joining him in the Round of 16 was 2025 Australian Open champion Sen, who smashed past Chinese Taipei Wang Tzu-wei in three games. After a comfortable opening game, Sen faced a comeback from Wang but in the decider the Indian tightened his defence to win 21-13, 16-21, 21-14. He faces Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan in the Round of 16.
In women’s singles, Sindhu also secured her spot in the pre-quarters. Facing Japan’s Manami Suizu, the fifth seed faced a stern test in the first game but her reach and aggressive cross-court smashes proved decisive. Sindhu won 22-20, 21-18. She will now take on Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark.
Anmol was the only youngster to progress. The 19-year-old from Haryana, who came through the qualifiers, showed tactical maturity in the main draw to edge past Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 21-17. Up next is Japan’s former world champion Nozomi Okuhara.
Other results
Men’s singles: Kiran George lost to local favourite Moh Zakiafter Ubaidillah 17-21, 14-21, while HS Prannoy went down 19-21, 11-21 against Malaysia’s Paris Olympics bronze medallist Lee Jii Zia.
Ayush Shetty was outplayed by home favourite and rising star Alwi Farhan. The Indonesian wrapped up the contest 21-8, 21-13 in just 29 minutes.
Women’s singles: The young Tanvi Sharma once again showed promise, but fell short against Japan’s World No. 9 Tomoka Miyazaki, losing 21-18, 18-21, 16-21. Malvika Bansod was beaten by sixth seed Michele Li of Canada, 21-23, 12-21.
Mixed doubles: Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde went down to the fourth-seeded French pair of Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue 9-21, 20-22. Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto were knocked out by France’s Julien Maio and Lea Palermo 23-21, 20-22, 6-21.
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